Steve Jobs accused of intellectual theft

Samsung Electronics Co., facing allegations that it stole tablet computer patents from Apple Inc. (AAPL), says the design for such devices can be traced back to Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 film “2001: A Space Odyssey.”

The design claimed in a 2005 patent Apple holds covering parts of the appearance of the iPad is depicted in the film, in which two astronauts are using tablet computers, Samsung attorney Sara Jenkins said in a court filing yesterday in federal court in San Jose that included a clip from the film.

“The tablet disclosed in the clip has an overall rectangular shape with a dominant display screen, narrow borders, a predominantly flat front surface, a flat back surface” and a thin form, Jenkins said in the filing. Bloomberg

We should also notice that Steve Jobs stole from Xerox in the original windows/mouse design.